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Rhythm of the Nile Dance Company is the only professional dance company in Canada which trully represents Egyptian Folklore and Egyptian Style Belly Dancing right from the source.

Nada El Masriya Artistic Director	Nada El Masriya Nada El Masriya was born and raised in Cairo where she grew up belly dancing. Nada's formal dance training began in high school where she performed with her school's folkloric troupe. She attended Cairo University, earning a degree in Egyptian Law with a minor in History of Egyptian Culture and Dance Traditions. While still in university, she performed with the Law College's folkloric troupe in the roles of dancer, assistant instructor and stage director. Nada had the honour of being chosen twice to represent Cairo University at the Ismaliya International Folkloric Dance Festival. At seventeen, Nada was accepted into the Reda Troupe, Egypt's first and most famous folkloric dance company. The Reda Troupe was the first company to stage Egypt's regional dance traditions and to present them to international audiences. Nada's primary trainers and mentors were Mahmoud Reda (founder, choreographer, and artistic director of the Reda Troupe), Hisham Saleh, Aida Nour, Hassan Khalil, and Hassan Afefe. Nada trained and worked professionally with the Reda Troupe for over 5 years, dancing in over one hundred performances throughout Egypt. Her full length shows include El Hassad, Isis and Osiris, Weffe El Nil, and Folklore Egypt. She performed folkloric dance many times on Egyptian television, most notably on the weekly national cultural events program, Layali El Television. Her time in the Reda Troupe allowed Nada to develop her remarkably expressive style, winning her many dance awards within the folkloric community. When Nada moved to Canada in 2003, she immediately began teaching and performing her native dances. On Dr. George Sawa’s invitation, she lectured at York University where she explained a Medieval Bagdhadi passage on dance. In 2004 Nada founded her own dance company, Rhythm of the Nile, and has since been the company's artistic director, trainer and choreographer. In 2008 Nada directed and produced the company's first full-length production, the successful show Rhythm Of The Nile. Through the dance company, Nada's mission is to entertain and educate audiences with the culture, history and traditions of Egypt. She returns to Egypt on a regular basis to attend the Nilegroup Egyptian dance festival, furthering her professional development through studying with Egyptian dance masters. She continues her own artistic development through numerous workshops in Egypt and in Canada with visiting Egyptian masters – most notably Tito, Randa Kamal, Dina, Kamelia and Lubna. Nada El Masriya and her husband, visual artist David Krysko, own and operate Hannan's Bellydance Studio, Canada's largest studio devoted to preserving and promoting authentic Egyptian dance.

Abigail Derbecker Co-Artist Director	Abigail Derbecker Abigail Derbecker was born and raised in Toronto. Her highly creative childhood was filled with dance, theatre, visual art and music lessons, and she began her stagecraft study with intensive training programmes at Young People's Theatre from the early age of thirteen. She later graduated from the Claude Watson School for the Performing Arts' theatre programme, where she studied costume design as well as acting, and went on to study Fashion Design at George Brown College and Ryerson University. After her post-secondary education, Abigail worked for several years as a knitwear designer. Abigail returned to her performance and movement training when she began studying Egyptian-style bellydance with Badia Star in Toronto. She has furthered her dance development through regular classes with Hannan Sultan as well as specialty workshops with Randa Kamal, Tito Seif, Aida Nour, Amir Thaleb, and Aziza of Montreal. Abigail has been an instructor at Hannan's Bellydance Studio since 2006, and performs regularly throughout Toronto and the GTA. Abigail became a lead dancer with Rhythm of the Nile in 2007 and performed in the company's 2008 production. Abigail's fashion and costume experience has allowed her to take an active role in the design and execution of the Rhythm of the Nile costuming. In 2009, Abigail is assisting Nada El Masriya as co-artistic director of Rhythm of the Nile's second full-length production, Ayyam Zaman.

Zahira	Zahira Zahira, is a dancer popular for her charisma and powerful stage presence. Her contact with dance started at an early age, learning the fundaments of Classical Ballet, Contemporary Dance and Mexican Folklore. She started her oriental dance training in 2002 and has been practicing it obsessively and diligently ever since. She studies intensively with Hannan Sultan, Roula Said and Nada El Masariya in Toronto and has developed an impressive c.v. of dance training including the Egyptians Randa Kamal, Yousry Sharif and Magdy El-Leisy plus notable influences from Saida and Amir Thaleb of Argentina, Shazadi of Mexico, Aziza, and many more luminaries. She periodically takes classes and workshops with various teachers in a wide range of styles and has completed Hadia’s Level 1 Teacher’s Training Program. Her wide knowledge of art and culture, her background in music and drama and her great love for Oriental Dance enrich her dance interpretation and fill her performances with excitement and delight. As a soloist, she performs regularly at weddings, private functions, festivals and corporate events. She is also a member of The Sultannettes faculty troupe at Hannan’s Bellydance studio, and of Rhythm of the Nile Dance Company led by Nada El Masriya formerly from the Reda Troupe of Egypt; she also occasionally performs with The Roulettes led by Roula Said. She currently teaches in downtown Toronto at Hannan’s Bellydance Studio.

Robyn	Robyn Robyn has been dancing and performing for 15 years with training in classical ballet, jazz, modern, tap, swing dance, hip hop, contact improv and since 2002, bellydance. She began teaching swing dance in 2002 and since then has also taught hip hop, jazz and bellydance. She has completed Hadia's Middle Eastern Instructor training program and is in her final year of Brian and Faye Foley's 3 year jazz and tap teacher training program.

Celeste	Celeste Celeste, born in Argentina, has been dancing since she was a little girl. She is trained in Argentinean folk dances, tap, tango, samba and salsa. In 2001 she fell in love with belly dance and completed 4 years in a bellydance school in Argentina, studying with Florencia Lima, Zafrah and Zahira Nahid. Celeste was part of Zahira Nahid’s professional troupe and in 2008 she moved to Canada. She began taking classes and is now a teacher for Hannan’s Belly Dance Studio. Celeste recently became a member of the Rhythm of the Nile Dance Company.

Daphne	Daphne Daphne is originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, where her love affair with dance first started. In addition to bellydance she has studied ballet, modern, jazz, salsa and samba. She is a former member of 'Arabesque Dance Company', and has also performed with ‘The Roulettes’. Daphne is currently a member of ‘The Rhythm of the Nile Dance Company’ as well as ‘Tropicalienté Latin Dancers’ and performs regularly in shows around Toronto.

Noor Saleem	Noor Saleem Noor Saleem commenced her artistic education very early in life. Before learning how to read or write, she was already taking piano and painting lessons. She started dance training at the age of eight, beginning with ballet and continuing with jazz and modern dance. Noor simultaneously explored non-Western dance forms such as Balinese, Bharatnatyam, Flamenco and Capoeira before deciding in 2002 to focus on Middle Eastern dance with an emphasis on Egyptian style. In addition, she exposed herself to other styles within the region including Persian, Central Asian, Moroccan, Turkish and Romani. Noor has studied with many renowned Egyptian and Western instructors such as: Faten Salama of Washington DC; the artistic director of Rhythm of the Nile - Nada Krysko of Toronto; and Yasmina Ramzy also of Toronto. She has further developed her dance skills by attending workshops led by master teachers Aida Nour, Tito, Randa Kamal, and Fifi Aldo, all of Egypt, and Yousry Sharif of New York.

Katy	Katy Moved by the beauty of the music Katy started studying Middle Eastern dance in 2002 at Arabesque Dance Academy. She has studied Middle Eastern dance with Yasmina Ramzy, Denise Mireau, Audra Simmons, Saba, Mary, Emesa Dose, and Nada. Further more she has taken workshops held by renowned performers Aida Nour, The Phenomenal Tito and Randa Kamal. Katy joined The Rhythm of the Nile Dance Company in 2005 and preformed at the Belly Dance Conference in Toronto, The Jim Boz gala, and at other venues in the city.

Tamano	Tamano Tamano began her dance training at an early age with Rhythmic Gymnastics, Ballet, Jazz and Hip Hop in her native Japan. After moving to Canada 4 years ago, she started taking classes with Hannan Sultan and quickly joined her student troupe, The Sultanettes, before joining the Rhythm of the Nile Dance Company. She has trained with world renowned artists like Aida Nour and Aziza, and brings to the company her vibrant personality.

Alexandra	Alexandra Alexandra’s dance training began in Greek traditional and folkloric dance. She started performing in musicals and community events and then joined a regional Greek dance troupe in the early-90s where she had the opportunity to study with local and visiting instructors from Greece. In 2005, she found out about Hannan’s Bellydance Studio and started training exclusively with Hannan Sultan. After a few months she was invited to join Hannan’s newly formed student troupe, the Sultanettes. Inspired and encouraged by her mentor, Hannan, she pursued further training by taking workshops with Aziza, Jillina, Petite Jamilla, Jim Boz, Tamalyn Dallal, Randa Kamal, Hadia and Denise Enan. She joined the Rhythm of the Nile dance company as an apprentice dancer in 2007.

Susan	Susan Susan has been studying Middle Eastern dance since 2004, primarily with notable instructors Hannan Sultan and Nada el-Masriya. She was a member of the Sultanettes student belly dance troupe for three years prior to joining the Rhythm of the Nile Dance Company in February 2009. In addition, Susan has traveled to various Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Syria and the United Arab Emirates to gain further knowledge on Middle Eastern culture and dance.

Starring The Traditional Arabic Music Ensemble Directed by Dr George Sawa Narrated by Roula Said

Tickets are only available through Hannan’s Belly Dance Studio or at the door.

George Sawa playing the Qanun	George Sawa was born in Alexandria, Egypt. He studied voice, theory, and qanun at the Higher Institute of Arabic Music, where his qanun teachers were Muhammad al-Sa‘douni (a student of Mustapha Bey Reda, 1881-1952), Milad Mansour (d. 197?, a student of ‘Abdel-Hamid al-Addabi, 1875-1940), Amin Fahmi (1919-1973) and Mustapha Kamel (1913-2000). After immigrating to Canada, he studied ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto, and obtained his doctorate in historical Arabic musicology at the Department of Middle East and Islamic Studies. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses on medieval, modern, and religious music of the Middle East at the University of Toronto and at York University, where he recently held the Noor Visiting Professorship. George is the author of Music Performance Practice in the Early cAbbasid Era, 132-320 AH/750-932 AD (Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, 1989; rpt. by The Institute of Mediaeval Music, Ottawa, 2004). His second book, Theories of Rhythms in Arabic Writings, 750-950 AD (Institute of Mediaeval Music) is forthcoming. He has published many articles on Arabic music in refereed journals and encyclopedias, and is frequently invited to give papers, presentations, lectures and concerts in the Middle East, North America, and Europe. He has recorded with Maureen Forrester, Raffi, Bram Morrisson and R. Murray Schafer. He composed two chants for R. Murray Schafer’s The Litany of Ra (1983) and performed in its Canadian and Dutch productions. He performed in Toronto in Schafer’s Opera The Children’s Crusade, at the 2009 Luminato Festival. George has been the musical director for several productions of the Toronto based Arabesque Dance Company. He is the recipient of many Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grants, a Canada Research Fellowship, and Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council grants. In 2005 he received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture for his research in Arabic music history, and was honoured with an award of excellence in the Arts and Culture category by the Canadian Arab Federation in 2007. George's Website is www.georgedimitrysawa.com The Traditional Arabic Music Ensemble Created in 1973 by George Sawa and the late Ebrahim Eleish (d. 1993), this chamber ensemble performs traditional Arabic music repertoire. The instrumental repertoire includes the sama‘i, bashraf (peshrev), longa, tahmila, taqsim, folk and classical dances; the vocal repertoire includes the Andalusian muwashshah, qad halabi, and folk and popular songs of Egypt and Syria. The ensemble has performed in venues across Canada, the USA and Europe and has been broadcast by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). The Ensemble has produced 2 CDs. The Art of the Early Egyptian Qanun Volume 1 (Which was nominated for a Juno Award) and The Art of the Early Egyptian Qanun Volume 2.

Ramond Sarweh playing the tambourine	Raymond B. Sarweh was born in Damascus, Syria, into a well known family of professional musicians. He studied percussion with ‘Abdel-Men‘em Isma‘il, and theory with his brothers Selim and Emile Sarweh, obtaining his Arabic music degree from the Damascus Conservatory of Music. Before immigrating to Canada, he performed in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, with many famous Arab singers and dancers. After coming to Canada, he created the first professional Arabic music band in Toronto and performed extensively in many Canadian cities, as well as in the USA and Latin America. Acknowledged as a virtuoso tambourine performer, as well as a singer, lutenist and composer, Raymond has performed with The Traditional Arabic Music Ensemble at many Toronto venues including the Royal Ontario Museum, CBC, Harbourfront, and the Music Garden.

Suzanne Sawa with a drum	Suzanne Meyers Sawa was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a degree in piano performance from Wittenberg University in Ohio, and Masters degrees in both musicology and library science from the University of Toronto, where she is currently Assistant Librarian at the Faculty of Music Library. She has studied classical Arabic at the University of Toronto, and Arabic percussion in Egypt. A member of the Traditional Arabic Music Ensemble since the early 1980’s, Suzanne has also performed in the Canadian and Dutch productions of R. Murray Schafer’s The Litany of RA. She has given numerous papers on Arabic music at international conferences, and has published on Arabic women musicians in the early Islamic period, for both The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music and The Encyclopedia of Islam (third edition). She is presently at work on a book of annotated translations (from medieval Arabic sources) of stories about women musicians.

Kathleen Kajioka	Based in Toronto, violinist Kathleen Kajioka has established a reputation as a musical multi-linguist, moving easily from the Classical music establishment to the World music scene, from Early Music to New Music to Pop. She has performed in concert series and festivals across Canada, from the Halifax Jazz Festival to the Victoria Summer Chamber Music Festival, and here at home with Tafelmusik, Soundstreams, Toronto Masque Theatre, Maryem Tollar and Maza Mezé, to name a few. Kathleen is bringing all her musical experiences to bear in her role as broadcaster at The New Classical 96.3FM, where she is the weekly host of “In the Still of the Night”.